Couldn't let the series of winter sports venues continue without a shout out to our local winter sports haven, Lake Tahoe.
Lake Tahoe is home to multiple ski areas including Heavenly and Kirkwood near South Lake Tahoe, and North Star, Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, Tahoe Donner, and Mt. Rose near North Shore. I've skied (if you can call it that) at Heavenly, Kirkwood, North Star, Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows. Each has its own appeal - some are best for families, others are best for advanced skiers, others are favored by snow boarders over skiers. Even if you don't ski or board, or prefer to visit Lake Tahoe during other seasons, it's a very cool place to go.
When I found these postcards, they brought up a host of memories. One I sent to myself from a ski trip over a long weekend we took with three other families; one was sent from a family/business weekend (aka a boondoggle to which I got to bring my husband and kids).
The trip we took with three families was one of those "memorable" weekends, for all the wrong reasons. While we did have fun and of course the kids had a blast, the house we rented (sight unseen of course) had paper thins walls. I recall a baby who cried all night one night, but worse my husband had either a stomach bug or food poisoning so the entire house listened to him retch all night long. To say the least, it wasn't the most relaxing weekend, as no one got much sleep.
The boondoggle, on the other hand, was superb. We rode on a luxury bus from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe and were ensconced in the Resort at Squaw Creek. My kids were more used to staying in rental houses than resorts and between the outdoor skating rink, the pinball/video arcade, the snack stocked mini bar, and the location, were quite impressed (they were probably 5 and 3 at the time). At one point, one of them asked, "Can we live here?" He had no concerns about the four of us in one room with two double beds, as long as he had unlimited access to all the features of the hotel. The older of the two was able to take what were probably his first ski lessons, the younger spent some time in day care, and my husband and I got to ski at Squaw!
P.S. It's Postcard Friendship Friday - you know what to do.